As we enter into a new year in which last year’s greatest event is still, dreadfully, uppermost in the mind of everyone in Japan, let’s pause to think hard about the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, the tsunami it triggered, and the release into the environment of radioactive substances from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Since then, Japanese society has turned its attention — in the government at all levels, the media, educational institutions, artistic fields — to a single question: How can the Japanese people rediscover the sense of accomplishment and hope that sustained them for decades following the end of World War II in 1945?

The fact is, however, that this question cannot be seriously addressed before another is answered: Can Japan, a country so prone to seismic disaster, move ahead in the 21st century while still maintaining nuclear facilities that may cause even worse radiation-related disasters in the future?

What is the risk of another Fukushima-type catastrophe, perhaps on an even more frightening scale, taking place — and is that risk worth taking?

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About

The Atomic Age is an ongoing project that aims to cultivate critical and reflective intervention regarding nuclear power and weapons. We provide daily news updates on the issues of nuclear energy and weapons, primarily though not exclusively in English and Japanese via RSS, Twitter, and Facebook. If you would like to receive updates in English only, subscribe to this RSS.

Additional Notes / 謝辞

The artwork in the header, titled "JAPAN:Nuclear Power Plant," is copyright artist Tomiyama Taeko.

The photograph in the sidebar, of a nuclear power plant in Byron, Illinois, is copyright photographer Joseph Pobereskin (http://pobereskin.com/)

This website was designed by the Center for East Asian Studies, the University of Chicago, and is administered by Masaki Matsumoto, Graduate Student in the Masters of Arts Program for the Social Sciences, the University of Chicago.

Contact / 連絡先

If you have any questions, please contact the Center for East Asian Studies, the University of Chicago at 773-702-2715 or japanatchicago@uchicago.edu.